Mulsim minority fleeing violence in Myanmar
KUTUPALONG, BANGLADESH — A trawler carrying Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in Myanmar capsized, killing at least five people, as the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, blamed a misinformation campaign for fuelling a crisis that the U.N. says has now pushed more than 125,000 refugees into Bangladesh.
Suu Kyi’s top security adviser also sought to counter the storm of criticism the government is facing from around the world over alleged army abuses against ethnic minority Rohingya, asserting that security forces were acting with restraint in pursuing “terrorists.”
On the Bangladesh side of the border with Buddhist-majority Myanmar, residents of Shah Porir Dwip fishing village recovered five bodies from the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, hours after the boat capsized around midnight, police official Yakub Ali said.
It was not immediately clear where the boat began its journey, or if the passengers had been among some 450 detained by Bangladeshi border guards and ordered Tuesday to return to Myanmar.
While some border guards were letting refugees across the border, others were sending them back.
Faced with a mounting crisis and a lack of space and basic supplies, Bangladesh said it will set up a new camp to accommodate Rohingya refugees who have arrived from Myanmar since Aug. 25, many walking for days and crossing jungles and rivers to reach safety.
Shah Kamal of the Ministry of Disaster Management did not say when the new camp would be ready. He said Wednesday it would be established in Tyingkhali, south of Cox’s Bazar district and near the established camp in Balukhali where more than 50,000 Rohingya have been sheltering since October.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked officials to prepare a database with fingerprints for the new arrivals.
Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Myanmar’s envoy on Wednesday and delivered a protest note expressing deep concern about the influx of refugees. It said it demanded immediate measures by Myanmar to deescalate the violence and also expressed concern about the reported planting of anti-personnel landmines near the border.
The number of Rohingya fleeing western Rakhine state has reached more than 125,000, 80 per cent of whom are women and children, said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
“Many more children in need of support and protection remain in the areas of northern Rakhine state that have been wracked by violence,” he said in a statement, adding that the U.N. refugee agency had no access to Rakhine trouble spots.
“We are unable to reach the 28,000 children to whom we were previously providing psychosocial care or the more than 4,000 children who were treated for malnutrition in Buthidaung and Maungdaw” in Rakhine, he said.
The violence and civilian suffering have prompted international condemnation and resonated particularly in many Muslim countries.